17.04.18
With our technological consumption steadily rising it’s no surprise the benefits of going cold turkey seem increasingly compelling, especially as the impact of our reliance on digital technology becomes linked with poor mental health.
As design researchers, its vital to consider this impact. As Dieter Rams put it ‘you cannot understand good design if you do not understand people; design is made for people’. In one of our earlier blog posts we looked at how the Siempo phone had been designed to cut out unwanted distractions and notifications.
Digital wellness can already be found at our fingertips with apps such as Headspace, which has pioneered mobile mindfulness for the masses since its launch in 2012.
Mindfulness is often touted as the go to alleviation for our modern day stresses many other brands have followed Headspace’s lead, with some offering a more immersive toolkit.
Whether these technologies, like Spire and Muse, will be adopted into the mainstream is yet to be seen. However, it does indicate that the approach to good mental health is becoming less clinical and increasingly inclusive. It is promising to see such examples of user centric design being applied in such a way that can allow for some real autonomy for those that feel that may have lost a sense of control.
The pursuit of improving ourselves and embracing new technology are key characteristics of our modern-day lifestyle, so it may be no surprise we now can shop a plethora of gadgets and apps to support our physical health. As tech giants such as Apple muscle in on the health sphere it will be interesting to see how wellness, and its accessibility, will come into the digital fold.
